Describe your dream studio! | Q.O.W. for 11/20/2012

So...... Warren Buffett and Bill Gates have gotten together and decided that YOU are the greatest ceramic artist in the world. As a reward for your accomplishments, they have decided to completely fund the construiction of a brand new studio for you to use.

Describe your dream studio!

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sunshine filled windows, windows, windows with great views across the countryside
commercial shelves, shelves, and more shelves
sturdy big worktops, tabletops, countertops
lots of storage space that was miraculously well organized
a tool holding system that never misplaced anything
large plastic draped drying racks on wheels
a lovely front loading kiln with tons of room
big sinks with lots of hot water
a kitchen and a bathroom ... maybe a nice lounge chair for dreaming
music system and video
large dry erase board for sketching

Glazing room with spray booth and door to outside, public throwing room for demonstrations, small classes, this room connects with a wide open archway to a room used for hand building. All rooms have windows and easy access to outside (without going through the gallery) and separate location from the main/gallery entrance so visitors are not confused by multiple doors. This part of my “dream studio” also has special clay sinks; floors in clay area are concrete with floor drains and faucet for attaching a hose. Sitting/library room with access to clay area and refreshment/snack area with closed off room with couch, chairs, sleeping area.

Money is no object, screens mounted on walls around working studios for visual teaching/learning demonstrations and speakers for music to all rooms. All this will be located on two acres, with outside picnic area, gazebo, sitting benches in gardens and insulated garden shed with work area and sink. Parking area will be made with previous concrete for maximum drainage when it rains.

Come down from your dream cloud Edie and get back to work, the mail has arrived.

My current workspace is in a basement, so my wish list includes high ceilings, lots of windows for natural light, and a door to the outside that does not require stairs, but rather a nice ramp so everything heavy can go in and out on wheels. I'd also like some climate control, if possible some way to eliminate drafty areas.

But the best part about my current studio, which I would not want to give up, is that it is inside my house. Which means I can go to work without having to be presentable enough to go outside.

If I somehow became "the world's greatest ceramic artist" by working in my garage studio, then that would be good enough for me. Warren and Bill are better off using their money to continue their fight against hungar and disease and improving education.

I'd like a big spacy room on one floor, clay and all the machines, including pug mill!, on one side, lots of tables (working space) on the other side. Lots of shelves too. Big windows with a nice view (trees, flowers, a pond). Central Heating! Floor that's easy to clean. An Electric kiln and a wood fire kiln....... Ehm, maybe I'll come up with more wishes after they started building my new studio. Oh yes, and a cleaning fairy!!

(My current studio is in the basement of my city house. 1/3 in the laundry, 1/3 in the wine cellar and 1/3 in the aisle. No heating, so in winter it's really cold).

I'm going big and want a commercial studio on a purchased lot with no rent. The building would be a brick building with exposed brick interior, epoxy flooring, high ceilings and high windows for natural lighting on 3 sides and large display windows in the front. There would be wheel area, painting table areas, airbrush booth, slab table, etc. There would also be a small coffee cafe area for relaxing with finished piece displays and soda and snack machines. A patio for raku would be a must, of course and lastly, there would be an area with a folding wall for creating a separate classroom for parties or event classes.

I built it.
As you will all know, if you followed my blogs, I worked in 100 year old brick warehouse on the second floor for 26 years. Moved out last January 15 to my dream studio.
Here is what it has;
1.All on one floor. Located at the back of my house.
2. In floor heating. The heat is always on. It is a tiny electric boiler. The walls are 2by 6 studs insulated. In the attic is R50 blown in insulation. Toasty warm. My glasses fog up when I come in from outside.
3. Big work tables and ware shelves which I built myself. One work table is 40 inches high[counter height], so you can work while standing.
4. Has a wheel area for my Brent, and a wedging table with a view.
5.Has windows on all four sides, which can be a problem for ware shelf placement. The back lane faces south, so I had to put a window there, even though I didn't want people looking in. It is High on the wall, and long and narrow[2ft. high by 8ft. long].
6. I dug a trench for my sink water line and drainage from the house. Don't have the water connected yet. It will have a small w2 gallon water heater. Saw them at Home Depot for $250.00.
7. The floor is concrete, sealed with acrylic. Easy to clean.
8. I have a used Olympic kiln in the corner. It is vented from underneath. The studio gets pretty hot when firing.
9.I have two doors on a corner. One faces into the house which is 20 feet away. The other faces onto my parking pad for loading.
10. Ceiling is 10 feet high with lots of flourescent lights,plus the eight windows.
11. My only draw back is that I don't have a gas kiln on the property, and have to take my work to my buddy Steve's. I fire cone 10 stoneware and porcelain.
Did I miss anything?
TJR.

I built it.As you will all know, if you followed my blogs, I worked in 100 year old brick warehouse on the second floor for 26 years. Moved out last January 15 to my dream studio.Here is what it has;1.All on one floor. Located at the back of my house.2. In floor heating. The heat is always on. It is a tiny electric boiler. The walls are 2by 6 studs insulated. In the attic is R50 blown in insulation. Toasty warm. My glasses fog up when I come in from outside.3. Big work tables and ware shelves which I built myself. One work table is 40 inches high[counter height], so you can work while standing.4. Has a wheel area for my Brent, and a wedging table with a view.5.Has windows on all four sides, which can be a problem for ware shelf placement. The back lane faces south, so I had to put a window there, even though I didn't want people looking in. It is High on the wall, and long and narrow[2ft. high by 8ft. long].6. I dug a trench for my sink water line and drainage from the house. Don't have the water connected yet. It will have a small w2 gallon water heater. Saw them at Home Depot for $250.00.7. The floor is concrete, sealed with acrylic. Easy to clean.8. I have a used Olympic kiln in the corner. It is vented from underneath. The studio gets pretty hot when firing.9.I have two doors on a corner. One faces into the house which is 20 feet away. The other faces onto my parking pad for loading.10. Ceiling is 10 feet high with lots of flourescent lights,plus the eight windows.11. My only draw back is that I don't have a gas kiln on the property, and have to take my work to my buddy Steve's. I fire cone 10 stoneware and porcelain.Did I miss anything?TJR.

I built it.As you will all know, if you followed my blogs, I worked in 100 year old brick warehouse on the second floor for 26 years. Moved out last January 15 to my dream studio.Here is what it has;1.All on one floor. Located at the back of my house.2. In floor heating. The heat is always on. It is a tiny electric boiler. The walls are 2by 6 studs insulated. In the attic is R50 blown in insulation. Toasty warm. My glasses fog up when I come in from outside.3. Big work tables and ware shelves which I built myself. One work table is 40 inches high[counter height], so you can work while standing.4. Has a wheel area for my Brent, and a wedging table with a view.5.Has windows on all four sides, which can be a problem for ware shelf placement. The back lane faces south, so I had to put a window there, even though I didn't want people looking in. It is High on the wall, and long and narrow[2ft. high by 8ft. long].6. I dug a trench for my sink water line and drainage from the house. Don't have the water connected yet. It will have a small w2 gallon water heater. Saw them at Home Depot for $250.00.7. The floor is concrete, sealed with acrylic. Easy to clean.8. I have a used Olympic kiln in the corner. It is vented from underneath. The studio gets pretty hot when firing.9.I have two doors on a corner. One faces into the house which is 20 feet away. The other faces onto my parking pad for loading.10. Ceiling is 10 feet high with lots of flourescent lights,plus the eight windows.11. My only draw back is that I don't have a gas kiln on the property, and have to take my work to my buddy Steve's. I fire cone 10 stoneware and porcelain.Did I miss anything?TJR.

[quote name='JBaymore' date='20 November 2012 - 07:14 AM' timestamp='1353424498' post='25399']So...... Warren Buffett and Bill Gates have gotten together and decided that YOU are the greatest ceramic artist in the world. As a reward for your accomplishments, they have decided to completely fund the construiction of a brand new studio for you to use.

Describe your dream studio!

Now are you sure that it's Warren and Bill? Here goes-

My ideal studio is on at least two or three acres, with a beautiful Mediterranean square shaped architecture, red tile roof, open, tiled courtyard and atrium, a beautifully cloistered walking garden with a small pond and a small bridge good for contemplative walks. There will be fountains and good parking on an enclosed compound. There will be sky lights over all of the classrooms; there will be some classrooms that are restricted to adults as well as to children. There must be offices, bathrooms with lockers, and showers. There must be separate lounges for staff and potters with comfy leather chairs, pottery making library, computers so folks can check what’s happening on CAD. And there must be a perfect HVAC system and a water filtering system. There will be a side loading dock for materials and supplies. We will have to have office workers and accounting staff for accounts receivables and payables and an office manager.

We must have loud speakers and an electronic security system, safety systems such as eye washing stations, video cameras, and Bose surround sound system that covers the entire studio compound.

There will be an ensuite hotel/residence for visiting potters.

There will be a separate kiln cottage with the smoothest walk way on the way to the best kilns on the market; all different sizes and types plus ware carts, kiln carts, a ‘fireman’ and an assistant to maintain the kilns and the cottage.

We will have the best potter’s wheels, kick as well as electric, and tools of all different kinds suitable for everyone’s needs. We will have pug mills for the different clay bodies, generous wedging tables, and a plaster work room with storage. There will be a photographic studio with lights, stands, and background paper on pull down rollers.

There will be a glaze and clay mixing lab with tables and stools, a sink with traps, scales, sieves, chemical storage, and a contract chemist to blend and test clays and glazes.

There must be good janitorial and gardening staff. There will be lots of storage. There will be several on staff ceramics teachers and assistants. We will have visiting specialists such as photographers, decorative arts teachers, design teachers and various guest lecturers. There will be a gallery/store with openings, and receptions.

There will be a neighborhood community studio with a supply store where neighborhood folk can purchase clay and supplies and attend classes scheduled for the ‘hobby potter’, and have a place to fire their ware at reasonable costs.

All of this will be in the middle of a large metropolitan area where it rains but snows very little.

John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life".

First off, to TJR--don't bother with a water heater, they take up too much space and you will always be running out of hot water. I put in an in-line tankless heater that supplies hot water on demand to my bathroom sink and studio sink. You'll spend about 100 bucks more, but way less in heating the water. They come in all sizes, so if you don't need it for showers, you can get the small one. Water heaters are made to continually heat water, even when you don't need or want it.

I, too have built my studio. Just a little shy of 1000 sq. ft., the front section is home to two wheels, a slab roller, Peter Pugger, large work table and wedging table (and shelves). The back section is divided in half, with one side my kiln room (two kilns--one old Cress, one new Skutt digital) with industrial exhaust fans above each kiln (and shelves). The second side is primarily storage shelves for glazes, work table and a spray booth. I use commercial glazes. The back portion of that is a closed off space I call my "office", but is in fact a catch-all (currently--but I'm really trying to do better). The outside door from the office leads to a covered gravel area where I've set up my raku kiln.

Do I wish it were larger--yes. Are there things I didn't allow for--not really, just need more shelves (always!). The building was there, so I had to design and limit my needs and wants with available space.

I'm pretty content with my studio it's a little small but after reading all of the other dream studio's I decided that Lucille has it just about covered so I'm just going to go live in her dream studio. Denice

My dream studio would be set up for maximum workflow. Plenty of sq footage. Clay storage shed with door to inside throwing area. Then on to green drying area then to kiln shed back to large glaze area. A large space for storing bisque as well as a huge area to handle fired glaze ware. May as wellthrow in a small sales area that’s always set up in a separate space with inside windows. Of course high ceilings lots of windows with a solar passive heat setup. I already have 200 amps and 2 inch gas lines so that’s a given.

A nice smoothfloor that is same level as gas kilns in kiln shed so rolling racks go smoothlyfrom place to place.

As far as dreaming once the above setup is done I want away from the road and a small stream year around running near studio along with a pond-may as well dream big. Good neighbors would round out the deal. Hey as long as we are dreaming I’ll trade all this above for teaching you pottery lessons to whatever level you want. From throwing to kiln building to glazing-high fire only please.

i agree with mark about the level floor. mine is converted from an attatched double garage with a sloping floor whose double doors were removed to put in a 16ft bay window and set of french doors that open to a full 6 feet. it is hard to wiggle through a narrow doorway with supplies. the kiln is in a fourth single garage accessed from a third single garage which has a bunch of woodworking tools and other stuff. the floor in the third garage is concrete but there is a concrete threshold in the doorway which prevents rolling a rack. the floor in the kiln room is dirt covered with 3/4 inch plywood except for the area above the septic tank. YES, i know. nobody heard of building codes until they went into effect about 12 years ago.

some day soon i would like to find a place having a central kitchen (where someone who can really cook will be all day, (june cleaver where are you?) individual spaces about double car garage size and a centrally located space with tables and shelves and sales spot. and a few like minded potters or other craftsmen to share. naturally this wonderful space will be just outside a metropolitan area which has many rich folks who love handmade things and who come out to buy everything we would all make.

I am very lucky in that I've had a pretty great studio by many standards for a long time......so nothing to really complain about. But it is far from what would be my "ideal" situation with a "pie in the sky" approach........ mainly because of the financial demands of creating the "ideal" place. (Warren and Bill would not really have those issues ;)src="http://ceramicartsda...ault/wink.gif"> .)

I'd certainly like far more windows (there are never enough of those in a clay studio). My studio is in a converted 200 year old barn attached to a center chimney colonial. I cut a few windows when I converted it about 35 years ago and also have a sliding glass door there....... but I'd really like to have more of the outside, inside. The property I own is wonderful, and the view from the windows in front of my main wheel station is of the Souhegan River, a sloping hillside on the opposite river bank from my property, and the noborigama off the the right side in the near distance.

My BIG wish is for a poured and sealed concrete floor with a gently sloping contour to a central (trapped) floor drain. Mopping down old barn-board flooring,.... even if the boards are hardwood and are about 3" thick on top of massive beams.... is not easy.

Sealed waterproof lower walls connecting to that concrete floor. With the ground-fault electricals run through conduit at about mid-wall level. So that you can simply hose down the lower 1/3 of the studio to clean.

I'd like at least double the space at this point. I have about 1000 sq. feet in the main studio on the ground floor, and about 1000 sq. feet for storage in the lower floor. Then the gas bisque kiln (20 feet from the studio) and the noborigama (75 feet from the studio) are outside under shed type roofs. When I started out.... the space felt amazingly lush. Now... I find I want more room.

And I'd like far better insulation than I have. The current barn has all been insulated and improved abnd upgraded to a studio..... but in the NH winters... I spend too much to heat the space. I'd also LOVE to have a passive and active solar heated studio.

While I already have a nice small studio showroom, I'd like it upgraded. A bit bigger. And somehow having my rural location for the other aspects of my life...... but ALSO having a better "retail" walk-in type traffic situation would be wonderful. (I don't think Warren or Bill can really solve that one.)

And as the owner of an OLD property........ I'd really like to not have to be reparing one thing after another all the time. Old places are a real maintenence nightmare. You start at one end and start fixing... and then when you get to the end.... you start all over again where you began.

And about now I'd like a budget of about $80,000 to rebuild my old and very tired 30+ year old noborigama.

I of course could go on....... but I won't. Again... I am VERY fortunate to have what I have.

I know this is an old Q.O.W., but I am pleased to announce that I am going back to work today in my newly renovated studio, which I will happily call my "dream studio." I needed to make room for another kiln, decided to overhaul the whole space instead. You can see all the before and after on my blog:http://www.goodeleph...-my-dreams.html

Id like a small "showroom" thats sealed from the production aera, could also double as a office. Then a large production aera, and a seperate firing room. A whole lot of rolling tables to move pieces around with ease. Then a seperate building to sort and store molds for use and buying and reselling, and a nice van or box truck for transporting molds and slip.

Then a recdptionist that makes good coffee would also be nice, and that would be a dream.

I visited your Blog and saw the pics "before-after". Absolutely wonderful place now. Congrats. I'am working in my basement too, one part of my studio is in the laundry, one part in the cellar and the last part in the storage cellar. Kiln is in the aisle between those rooms. I totally see your reason to do a renovation. You did a good job. Happy potting! Evelyne